Dollmore is one of the oldest of the Korean BJD companies still open today. They carry an incredible range of dolls from tinies to some of the largest resin BJDs ever made.
The reigning queens of Dollmore are the largest girls from the Trinity line. At 110cm tall, they are amazing feats of doll engineering. Multiple artists work together to create each limited edition doll. (Interview with Eunyoung Lee)
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Q: Could you first tell me a little about your company?
A: The Dollmore company was founded on February 22, 2002, as a collectible doll online shopping mall. Our business name ‘Dollmore’ is a portmanteau of the words “Doll” and “More”, meaning the desire to collect many dolls of the best quality and provide many dolls in the ball-jointed doll market. In the beginning, I opened the Dollmore store by myself and did all the work alone including making dolls, doing makeup, and shipping.
At present, there are many staff in the company. All staff in Dollmore like to talk to each other about how to make better ball-jointed dolls.
We hope many people love our dolls.
Q: What dolls were introduced first? Were they the 1/3 dolls?
A: We started as one of the integrated internet stores. In 2004, we developed Asha, Lilis Liv, Calvin, Ray, Dean, and Joey dolls.
Q: So onto the Trinities. Is there one person who designed the Trinity girls or was it a team of people?
A: The first Trinity doll was designed by the artist whose stage name is ” St.Cura”. Dollmore commissioned St. Cura to make a new head sculpture for a Trinity first. Now, we cooperate with many famous domestic doll artists to develop many different head sculptures.
Q: Can you tell me the names of each of the Trinity dolls from the first design to the latest and the year they were released?
A: 1st Trinity Doll: Jude, released in 2012
2nd to 4th Trinity Doll: Elysia , Lumie, Klaire, released in 2013
5th Trinity Doll: Eugenia, released in 2016
6th Trinity Doll: Kate, released in 2017
7th Trinity Doll: Edna, released in 2018
8th Trinity Doll: Marienne, released in 2019
Q: Why did you decide to make such a large and unusual BJD? Was there a specific inspiration?
A: I collected dolls for many long years.
Personally, I have collected many Jan Mclean Porcelain dolls and I was deeply impressed by the delicate make-up and clothes of Jan Mclean dolls. It was the first inspiration for me to make more beautiful dolls than these dolls, dressing with better dresses and having more beautiful make-up.
Q: What was the hardest thing about designing a doll so large?
A: It took about 5 years to develop the Trinity dolls because the Trinity doll is really one of the largest sizes of dolls. When we duplicate dolls, there is a limitation to the size of a machine. Therefore, we have to divide the top body parts into 2 parts. We suffered deep pain to divide top body parts into 2 parts.
We have to use lots of resin to make a Trinity doll and there are many other problems when we make Trinity dolls. So we cannot make many dolls at one time.
Q: How do you come up with the different limited versions you release?
A: Lee EunYoung is the CEO of the Dollmore company. She is the founder of and is also a director artist in Dollmore company. She will give a new idea for a limited edition doll at first. Then all staff for the doll will have a conference to develop new limited edition dolls.
We decide on a face-up artist and costume designer based on the idea of the new limited edition doll. A professional photographer will add vital force to the dolls in the photos. Finally, we list each doll on our website.
It should be a combination of the artist’s and owner’s ideas. We set the direction of the theme of a doll by talking with artists.
Q: Who designs and paints the face-ups for the Trinities? They are beautiful!
A: Unfortunately, it is our business secret! But we promise that the artists who are doing makeup for our dolls have about 20 years’ experience in this field.
They are very professional and are greatly respected by the Dollmore company.
Q: Is it difficult to paint such a large doll head?
A: It takes a longer time to do makeup on a big doll head. We add many details to the face-up to complete a delicate face-up. It is similar to painting a big picture and a small picture. When an artist draws a big picture, it takes a longer time and is a harder job than drawing a small picture.
Q: How long does it usually take to go from an idea to the release of each doll?
A: Usually, it takes 2 or 6 months to prepare a new limited edition doll. Sometimes, it takes about 2 or 3 years to develop a new limited edition doll. It is different based on different dolls.
(Photo above: Black Jude, one of the first 2 Trinity dolls released.)
Eunyoung Lee-Dollmore Facebook
Below is a photo gallery featuring the creation of the latest Trinity doll sculpt named Marienne. The gallery starts with the completed doll and then goes from concept to completed head. Two full-sets of the doll are now available, each in a limited edition of 10.
A photo of each of the Trinity sculpts:
(All of the Trinity full-sets ever released may be seen HERE.)
